Pakistan: Ravaging floods disrupt supply chains

Karachi [Pakistan], August 31 (ANI): Ravaging floods due to torrential rains in Pakistan have resulted in delays on transport routes, Dawn reported on Sunday.
According to Dawn, goods transporters said that shipments from Karachi to different parts of Punjab, as well as consignments arriving from Pakistan's Punjab to Karachi, are being delayed.
Dawn cited All Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance President Nisar Hussain Jafri, who stated that the supply chain has faced delays of two to three days over the last three days.
He said goods carriers are facing problems as the city governments in various areas of Pakistan's Punjab have not displayed diversion signs for container trucks. Hence, due to this, carriers often reach points where they cannot proceed further. He urged the administrations to install diversion signs to save diesel and time.
The President of the Falahi Anjuman Wholesale Vegetable Market, located on the Super Highway near New Subzi Mandi, Haji Shahjehan, stated that onion supply from Balochistan and potato supply from cold storages had declined in Karachi due to the rains and floods, according to Dawn.
It also reported that shipments passing through flood-affected areas such as Sutlej, Ravi, and Chenab had almost been suspended.
Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has confirmed 16 new deaths in the last two days, bringing the total death toll from flooding and rain-related incidents across the country over the past two months to 831, The Express Tribune reported on Saturday.
This catastrophe follows severe landslides in KP in mid-August, which killed over 400 people. The region's proximity to Afghanistan and other factors have complicated relief efforts.
In 2022, Pakistan suffered its worst floods on record, submerging a third of the country, with Sindh the hardest hit, The Express Tribune reported.
Apart from this, short-term inflation in Pakistan, measured through the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), climbed 3.57 per cent year-on-year for the week ending August 28, primarily driven by a sharp rise in prices of perishable food items, Dawn reported, citing official figures released on Friday.
This year's flood disaster highlights Pakistan's increasing vulnerability to climate change and its severe toll on lives and livelihoods. (ANI)